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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323681">Catch of the Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshizora/pseuds/yoshizora'>yoshizora</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Xenoblade Chronicles 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, F/F, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:15:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshizora/pseuds/yoshizora</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Pyra goes on a journey to find herself, and Pandoria just wants to fish.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pyra/Pandoria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Xenoblade Femslash Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Catch of the Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/gifts">green_piggy</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>my piece for the Xenoblade Femslash Exchange! the prompt was "Pyra/Pandoria, bonding over cooking fish or fishing together". i kind of ran off the rails with the prompt but hopefully this is alright. it was a fun challenge writing these two!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, did you know? The <em> Glory Angler </em> will lure prey straight into its mouth with a bioluminescent thingy-ma-bob dangling from its head. Kinda like how moths are attracted to your flames.”</p><p>Speaking of moths, there’s an awful lot of them swarming around them now. Pyra tries not to appear too visibly dismayed by the reminder, and she wraps her shawl more tightly around herself. Pandoria, on the other hand, seems totally unbothered, even as a few of them crash against her lightbulbs with a frightening determination.</p><p>“I see. That’s very interesting,” Pyra says. Politely.</p><p>“It’s hard to see it in action up close since you’d have to dive down real deep to where they usually hunt. Sometimes on these dark and spooky nights, when you can hear a distant howling…”</p><p>“When did this become a horror story?”</p><p>“Huh? Oh! Sorry, I almost got carried away.” Pandoria rolls her shoulders, pats her face like she’s preparing for a fight or something, and sits down at the edge of the dock with her back facing the water. She looks up to make sure Pyra is watching (she is, of course), and then… lowers her tail into the waters below.</p><p>Okay, that’s normal.</p><p>Tantal is no longer submerged deep within the Cloud Sea, now that there is no Cloud Sea to speak of, which means it has undergone a rather abrupt and violent change in climate. The sun and moon shine through the membranes of its shell. All of that thick snow had already melted, ancient ruins suspended by ice now crumbling to the heat, and it’s a wonder that Theosoir is even intact after that shocking impact. All sorts of plants were quick to grow in light of the melting. It’s warm and muggy inside Genbu.</p><p>Outside, the weather is pleasant, and some citizens had already constructed some docks along the shore and along Genbu’s shell. But no boats. They haven’t built any boats yet.</p><p>Which kind of defeats the purpose, but the docks do make perfect fishing spots.</p><p>“How did you find out about the Glory Angler, if you’ve never seen it in person?” Pyra asks, deciding not to question why Pandoria stuck her tail into the water. She takes a seat beside her, shoulder to shoulder, facing the opposite direction. If it weren’t for the moths, this might actually be comfortable.</p><p>“I read about it in a book, nothing special.”</p><p>“So I guess you’re taking a page out of it? Figuratively? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fish like this before.”</p><p>“No, silly!” Pandoria laughs, as if Pyra just told a great joke. “I’d say a fishing rod does the job best, but this works in a pinch. Not that we’re in a pinch right now, but I forgot the fishing rods, so I figured I might as well make the best of the situation. Right?”</p><p>“I could run back to Theosoir and grab them.”</p><p>“Nah, that’d take too long. Besides, we’re already out here so we might as well enjoy the moment.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Elysium is beautiful. It is grand and wonderful and everything anyone could have dreamt of.</p><p>Most of all, Elysium is a <em> second chance</em>. It is the Architect’s final gift, and the opportunity of redemption for all of humanity, and a glimmer of hope for those who believed that the world had no future. Resources are aplenty. The Praetorium is gone. Blades are no longer a commodity for war.</p><p>And the Aegis isn’t an <em> Aegis </em> anymore, at least in purpose, just two women with a newfound freedom and no burden nor fear of an apocalyptic tragedy.</p><p>Mythra is liberated at last. On the other hand, Pyra is… not used to being alone in her thoughts, with no one to listen to or comfort or commiserate in a mutual suffering that had spanned five hundred years. What is Pyra, if she isn’t Mythra’s other half? They can’t be the same person anymore because they’re <em> not</em>. They can’t be, not when they’re inhabiting two separate bodies and Pyra can no longer guess what Mythra is thinking about, which is a <em> terrible </em> feeling to come to terms with when she had spent her entire existence attached to the Aegis.</p><p>Mythra is the Aegis. <em> The </em> Aegis.</p><p>Pyra is the imitation of an Aegis. Not real. Was never real. Just an extension of Mythra’s consciousness. That’s wrong— she’s real. Everyone made sure she knows she’s real. The idea is difficult to fully grasp, even now.</p><p>What is she supposed to be, if she’s no longer a buffer for Mythra’s trauma?</p><p>When she asked that question, she couldn’t gauge Mythra’s immediate reaction. Then Mythra said: <em> You are Pyra, and you’re free to do whatever you want now, so I think you should find your answers on your own and discover your own personal happiness. </em></p><p>Mythra’s happiness isn’t Pyra’s happiness when they’re like this, separated into two. It is like… being a Blade without a Driver.</p><p>A Blade without a Driver!</p><p>She knew exactly who to speak to. Last she heard, Tantal’s prince had run off again because the country is no longer crushed beneath a mad Praetor’s thumb so the King <em> totally </em> has everything under control, and that the Prince had left his poor Blade behind.</p><p>Pyra knows that Zeke wouldn’t just abandon Pandoria like that. The only logical conclusion is that Pandoria is in the exact same situation as her, lost in this new world with an opportunity she had never asked for. A Blade is bound by its instincts to serve its Driver. But, a Blade also has an innate potential to form its own independence and create its own identity, which is the beautiful part.</p><p>Pandoria’s just not that type of person to take the initiative by herself, so Zeke probably felt that temporarily removing himself from the picture was the only way, however cruel or clumsy others might believe that act to be.</p><p>This is going to be different, Pyra firmly tells herself. She’s not just going to sit there and soak in Pandoria’s turmoil like she did for Mythra, they’ll actually talk. They’ll fish. They’ll get to know each other because they never actually had the opportunity to, not when the world was in danger and Mythra was doing most of the heavy lifting. Then they’ll figure things out together and find their own identities as people, not Pyra the other Aegis and Pandoria the Prince’s Blade.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Something <em> bites </em> on Pandoria’s dangling tail. She yelps and grabs Pyra, and Pyra scrambles to hold onto her— </p><p>“My tail! Grab my tail! It’s detachable! Don’t let it steal my taaaaail—“</p><p>So Pyra grabs her tail, at the base.</p><p>“Ow ow ow ow ow ow—“</p><p>“You told me to grab it!”</p><p>“Gently! Please!”</p><p>So Pyra loosens her grip.</p><p>“Nooo, it’s pulling me back!”</p><p>“I need to hold on tight, then!”</p><p>“Okay okay, fine!”</p><p>Turns out, it’s not a fish. It’s a Lexos, which typically lives in deep waters like a fish but has a distinctly draconic and serpentine appearance. A smaller one had decided that Pandoria’s lightbulb was possibly a tasty bioluminescent snack and chomped down on it, and now it’s breaching the surface… flying… upwards… oh, there goes Pandoria. <em> There she goes. </em></p><p>“<em>Waaaaah! </em>”</p><p>“H-Hold on!”</p><p>Pyra makes one last desperate grab for Pandoria’s wrist, but she’s already out of reach as the Lexos rises out of the water, Pandoria dangling from its jaws. Her limbs flail about and she twists in the air, trying to reach around to hold onto her tail. It looks like the Lexos lost interest in her for the moment, but her lightbulb is stuck between its teeth. Saltwater splashes down all over Pyra; she reflexively cringes away, shielding her face with her arm.</p><p>“Did you know?!” Pandoria shouts as she’s swinging about. “The Lexos family is closely related to the Aspid family, however Aspids spend most of their lives submerged while Lexos will frequently surface in order to hunt—“</p><p>“Why are you telling me all this?!”</p><p>“I don’t know! I just thought it was interesting and maybe you’d like to hear about it!”</p><p>This is where Mythra would take charge in order to bark at Pandoria to stop spouting off useless Fish Facts and then manifest her sword, either to chop the Lexos in half or to summon a beam from Siren to vaporize it into ether.</p><p>But Mythra isn’t here.</p><p>Pyra’s hand curls into a fist. Pandoria isn’t trying to explain the nuanced differences between <em> Drac Lexos </em> and <em> Rivarl Lexos </em> anymore, but she’s still very much in danger of being eaten (maybe? What would happen if the Lexos tried to eat her, anyway? Couldn’t she just zap the thing unconscious?) and Pyra knows she has to do <em> something. </em> But, for some reason, she finds her feet firmly rooted in place and an indescribable terror rendering her frozen.</p><p>This is… the remnants of Mythra’s despair and hesitance, she thinks.</p><p>The Lexos bears down on her with Pandoria swinging wildly like a dangling ornament. Pyra bites her tongue, draws up two massive fistfuls of fire, and hurls them at its face.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Blaming Mythra makes absolutely no sense, because Mythra never meant any ill will in the first place from the moment of her creation to the moment they were reborn as two. Pyra stares down at her hand and ponders, while Pandoria dives into the Lexos and pulls out the inedible parts of its guts. It’s dark outside, now. The moths have returned in full force.</p><p>“Pandoria?”</p><p>“Yeah? What’s up?” She pulls her head and arms out of the Lexos to look over at her.</p><p>Why did she come out here in the first place? Because she couldn’t stand being around Mythra any longer, or because she was afraid of what would happen if she gave in to the generous complacency of a domestic life in Fonsett Village? That wouldn’t have been a bad life at all. Wake up, greet the neighbors, prepare breakfast, and help Azurda and Rex round up all the orphans and other displaced refugees for a noisy meal in Corinne’s yard (since her dining room isn’t big enough for all of them). Then she’d help Corinne wash the dishes, tend to the gardens, and then Mythra would find her and—</p><p>“Pyra? Pyra?” Pandoria waves a hand in front of her face. “You’re spacing out <em> hardcore. </em> Are you alright? That Lexos didn’t scare you too badly, did it?”</p><p>Oh, that’s right. She came out here because she wanted to see Pandoria.</p><p>“Sorry.” Pyra smiles sheepishly. “It’s nothing.”</p><p>“Oh no, don’t try to play that whole <em> everything’s just fine and dandy, don’t worry about me because I don’t want to burden you with my troubles </em> act. I asked you what’s up, so you’ve gotta tell me what’s up.” Pandoria tries to wipe as much Lexos slime off her arms as she can and sits down beside her.</p><p>“Is your tail alright?”</p><p>“Yup.” Just to show her, Pandoria pulls her tail over her lap and waggles the lightbulb. “This thing’s sturdier than you’d think. If my bulbs were made of normal glass, I would’ve shattered a looong time ago.”</p><p>“That’s good to hear. Really.”</p><p>“Look, I can’t pretend to know what exactly is going through your head,” she says, putting her tail down. “But I’m not stupid, either. I mean, anyone could tell that something’s wrong when you left on your own without Mythra.”</p><p>But this isn’t about Mythra. It’s about herself, as Pyra, Pyra the person and not Pyra the other half of Mythra. She stands up and approaches the half-butchered Lexos, looking over its body. Flies are already beginning to gather, drawn by its stench. In just a few hours, the whole thing will be gone in wisps of ether. She gestures for Pandoria to join her.</p><p>“Mmh. Let’s cook. I have some other ingredients in my bag.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Cooking Lexos isn’t too different from preparing fish, Pyra figures. The meat is tougher and has a stronger odor, but the Lexos is closely related to the Aspid, which has closer relations to other aquatic creatures than one would assume. According to Pandoria, anyway.</p><p>Of course, any other kind of fish would be preferable over a Lexos, but Pyra would like to think she’s not very picky when it comes to choosing what to eat. If it’s edible, it’s edible! Besides, she had managed to make tasty meals out of plenty of other things before Mòrag and Brighid joined the group and provided funds to buy food from merchants.</p><p>Then Zeke and Pandoria hopped into the party, and it turned out that Pandoria is even better than Dromarch at fishing. Who would’ve thought?</p><p>“I’m afraid,” Pyra finally admits as she’s watching the Lexos meat cook over her campfire, “I don’t know who I am if I’m not Mythra’s other self.”</p><p>“Well, why do you have to be anything else?”</p><p>“Because… because things are different now.” Being in Elysium is changing so many things. Not just for Tantal, or Gormott or Mor Ardain or all the Titans and Blades of the world. Pyra was created to serve as a stopgap to Mythra’s power. That stopped being her only purpose somewhere along the journey, and now Mythra doesn’t need Pyra in her head to provide counseling and comfort. “I’ve never known what it was like to have secrets of my own or to be alone in my thoughts. Does this make me my own individual being? Or am I just…”</p><p>Pandoria stares at her for a long, long moment, only moving to swat away a moth that lands on her glasses.</p><p>“Wow, you’re overthinking it.”</p><p>“H-Huh? You think so?”</p><p>“I think I get it. I panicked at first too, you know. First Genbu goes quiet and then my Prince runs off by himself?! I thought… that I was all alone,” she says, voice tapering off with a sad smile. “But then I realized that it’s okay to be afraid. I’ve never really known much outside of my world with Zeke before I met all of you. He was all I had and all I cared about. Finding new things to live for is a bit scary, but that also makes life that much more exciting, right? Even if you lost your psychic connection with Mythra and the world might not need Aegises anymore, that doesn’t mean you’re lost or alone. That just means you can do whatever you want.”</p><p>“That’s almost exactly what Mythra said…”</p><p>“So that means she’s right! And that I’m right. Wait, I’m <em> right! </em>” Pandoria rises to her feet, eyes shining. “Yeah! We can do whatever we want!”</p><p>“What <em> do </em> you want to do?”</p><p>“I… want to catch every kind of fish then eat each one,” Pandoria shouts, spreading her arms wide. “And then put all the recipes into a cookbook!”</p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em> You are Pyra, and you’re free to do whatever you want now, so I think you should find your answers on your own and discover your own personal happiness. </em>
</p><p>She supposes Mythra would know best, since she <em> did </em> create Pyra (unconsciously or not). They had five hundred years to discuss things between themselves and for Pyra to come to terms with what she was and why she had been brought into the world— and she was fine with that! Because she was created to be complacent. Mythra needed someone who would hold her accountable without anger or blame, and someone to cry against when the memories became too overwhelming. Pyra was— <em> is </em> the perfect friend, put simply.</p><p>But Mythra hadn’t exactly taken her growing sentience into account. Maybe she feels bad about it, but even if she didn’t, Pyra wouldn’t mind unless she willed herself to feel otherwise.</p><p>She spends the next few days with Pandoria, lazing about at the docks (with fishing rods! No more tail-fishing mishaps) and trying out new recipes she would have never been so daringly experimental with during their journey to the World Tree. Gradually, she stops worrying, then she stops thinking about it altogether. Those everlasting anxieties about Mythra fade in lieu of the stink of fish guts. Questions about her own self run in circles, then slow to a stop as she sorts through different herbs and spices.</p><p>Pandoria brings over some borrowed books from Theosoir’s library to read about the fish they catch, some of them completely unidentifiable. They’re discovering <em> new kinds of fish </em> which really is incredible, and Pyra is careful to take notes about each one before Pandoria sinks her teeth into them.</p><p>The routine becomes a comfort. A different kind of complacency, one that Pyra has no doubts about.</p><p>Pandoria sometimes mourns Genbu, wondering if she should organize a funeral or build a shrine or bury some fish somewhere.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Tell me what’s bothering you!”</p><p>“O-Only if you tell me first.”</p><p>“Nuh uh! I asked the question!”</p><p>“But I want to hear what you’re thinking!” Pyra blushes and covers her mouth with her hands, then lowers her arms. “W-was that too aggressive?”</p><p>“No, that was perfect!” Pandoria laughs, kicking her heels against the dirt. “Sometimes you’re so gentle, you make me feel super confident in comparison.”</p><p>Pyra blinks. “You’re so outspoken, Pandoria. You’re never shy about sharing your thoughts and how you feel.”</p><p>“Is that what it seems like? Nah, in all honesty, I’ve just become really good at channeling Zeke’s mannerisms. He’s the one who loves partying and making new friends, not me. Whenever I feel nervous around people, I just pretend I’m him and then I have enough courage to make an ass out of myself without shame.”</p><p>“Haha, that’s one way to put it…”</p><p>“… But I can’t do that forever. I don’t want to sit in his shadow anymore,” she says. “I’m gonna find my own courage instead of mooching off of him. That’s what I decided.”</p><p>Pyra pulls her knees up to her chest, smiling faintly. They haven’t had many bites this evening. Maybe the fish have finally caught on and realized that they should avoid this area where those two odd Blades fish all day. “That’s a very admirable thing to say, Pandoria.”</p><p>“A-Anyway! I spilled my guts, so it’s your turn!”</p><p><em> Be honest. </em> They’ve been practicing that a lot. <em> Be honest. </em> Pyra takes a deep breath.</p><p>“I don’t think I want to go back to Fonsett Village.”</p><p>“Say what?”</p><p>“Spending time with everyone in the village was something I really, really needed. But if I have to be honest, though… I’ve been feeling a lot happier with you.” There, that’s all the honesty she can muster without falling to pieces. But, strangely enough, she doesn’t feel nervous or anxious at all. She’s just… calm. Like everything is working out the way it’s supposed to.</p><p>“But,” Pandoria yanks her glasses off and rubs at her eyes with her palm. “<em> …Why? </em>”</p><p>“Because, well…” <em> Be honest. </em> “I like you, Pandoria. That’s all.”</p><p>“… Huh.”</p><p>“Mmhm.” She smiles. “Can I hear what you’re thinking, now?”</p><p>“I— I’m not good with fancy words, you know, so—“ Pandoria stammers, the tips of her ears turning red and her lightbulbs madly flickering. She’s so easy to read, it’s kind of adorable. All her emotions are always bared right on her sleeve (or on her lightbulbs), sincere and honest and everything Pyra wishes she could be. </p><p>This is a start. This is progress. They’ve caught so many fish and there’s still more to discover each and every day. She can’t wait to tell Mythra all about it.</p><p>This is probably what that feeling called <em> exhilaration </em> is.</p><p>Pyra meets her halfway, holding her steady by the arms as Pandoria fumbles and drops her glasses.</p><p>Oh, her mouth tastes like fish.</p>
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